


In Search of Hope (I Found in You)

by whyntir



Series: A Future I see Through Your Eyes [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Body Language, Canon Compliant, Comfort/Angst, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Night of the Soul Chapter (Detroit: Become Human), POV Simon (Detroit: Become Human), POV Third Person Limited, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Sharing Body Heat, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 21:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16730757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whyntir/pseuds/whyntir
Summary: "We need him, Simon. We need him here, with us, right now.” Her voice was conflicted, angry, desperate. “Where the hell is he when his people need him most?”“He’s finding hope.”“Then he better bring back a whole hell of a lot.”After the FBI raid, Markus has disappeared, leaving Simon and the others in charge until his return. But he is their beacon in the dark, what hope do they have without him? Simon gets a reminder from a friend.





	In Search of Hope (I Found in You)

> _Temperature: 0.34 ℃_

_ >>Core Temperature falling _

_ >>>Initiating Overdrive: Biocomponent #3882j _

_ >>>> _ **_Warning -_ ** _Biocomponent #3882j - Damaged_

>> _Core Temperature falling_

**!!!** _ > _ **-00:00:47** _Before Freezing_

 

He had seen the docks, they were just over a meter away, and yet it was so hard to move; the warnings jumping to life the moment he crashed into the water. He had been the second to jump and the first to fall, the others not too far behind; and for that he was grateful. A hand gripping his own held above his head before the bombs went off, the sound wave sending them both reeling in the darkness. He held tight onto that hand as the others were scattered, the two of them sent crashing into the concrete wall.

 

**!!!** > **-00:00:23** _Before Freezing_

_ >> ** _Warning_**   ** _-_** _Biocomponent #2764v - Damaged_ _

__ >> ** _Warning_**   ** _-_** _Biocomponent # 6165p - Damaged_ _ _

_> >_ ** _Warning_** **_-_** _Biocomponent #3882j - Failure Imminent_

 

That hand pulled him from the water, dragged him as his joints were seized up from the cold into one of the warehouses. The explosion had been enough to vacate the edge of the harbour, but the helicopters overhead were already starting to come back into formation, spotlights scouring the docks and the nearby buildings. His neck strained as he forced his body to move, blinking past errors and alerts to see those mismatched eyes.

Eyes that saw nothing at all.

“We have to find the others, Markus,” his voice modular hitched in a way to mimic the stress of the cold, even if he could not feel it.

 

_ >Core Temperature Stabilizing _

_ >> _ **_Attention -_ ** _Biocomponent 3882j - Irreparably Damaged_

_ >>>Seek Cyberlife Assistance Immediately _

_ >> _ **_Warning -_ ** _Core Temperature Low_

 

“There is a place we can regroup. It’s far enough away-.”

Markus took his hand, effectively cutting him off as he stared him down with such intensity. Such vulnerability. “Send me the location. Then find Josh and North and whoever else you can and take them there.”

“Markus?”

“Take care of them, Simon. I’ll come find you.”

* * *

 

He had lost track a long time ago, their faces blurring into one another as their voices repeated the same words over and over and over.

_“What will we do now?”_

The abandoned church stood on the outside of the docks, the ceiling partially caved in as snow fell lazily from the sky as it had done just days before. The thrumming of the helicopters in the distance, the droning of engines as they scoured the docks, searching for survivors. Intermittently there would be a flurry of excitement and a cascade of bullets. The inhabitants would all stiffen, their heads jerking in the direction of the massacre, silence suffocating them.

He could feel them look to him, questioning him, begging him. He wished he knew. Dropping his head, he ducked away from their eyes, and when he had the courage to look up once again, they were there, in groups or alone, heads bowed in remembrance.

He found Josh, going from group to group, reassuring them. What _he_ should be doing, but he didn’t know what to tell them. He was just as lost as they were, he always had been, but now he couldn’t hide in the darkness, and all he had known and all that was his was sinking to the bottom of the Detroit harbour. There was nowhere he could lead them where they would be safe. They would ask him, and he couldn’t come up with any satisfactory lie.

They were not safe. They wouldn’t ever be safe. He could not protect them now.

_“Where’s Markus?”_

He pressed his thumb into the crease of his brow, willing the tension away. Markus would come back. He said he would, promised he would. He wouldn’t let himself get killed now, not this far along. Not without a word.

“Careful, you’re showing emotion,” North’s sarcastic tone bordered on biting, “They might start thinking you’re out of your depth.”

Simon sighed through his nose, unsure if he wanted to engage in this right now. They had been dealt a massive blow already, and with Markus gone the last thing the others needed to see was a dispute. They had come this far, they couldn’t afford to fall apart now. “North-.”

“Don’t.” She glanced back to the others as well, thinking the same thing. “I get it. It doesn’t make it better, but I get it.”

“I didn’t know-.”

“I said _I get it_ ,” she bit back, eyes narrowing dangerously, daring him to try and apologize one more time. “If it had been you, I would have done the same thing.”

She looked away taking note of the newcomers still finding their way inside, the news spreading from those who had been close enough to pick up the signal and spreading out like a ripple. Even still, there were only a few dozen so far; maybe a hundred who had made their way to the rendezvous.

She settled beside him, leaning against the wall to take her weight off the damaged leg, her face hard as they surveyed the damage. So few remained, perhaps it was still too early to call, but the numbers were disheartening. Her shoulder brushed against his back and he fought the urge to pull away. Right now, they needed to show solidarity. Even without Markus, they had become his pillars to which he planned, discussed and consulted. Even if they rarely agreed, they had to stand united now.

Her long, thick braid was still damp and hung heavily over her shoulder, even her clothes were still trying to dry. And yet she was warm, the heat from below her skin seeping through his own damp clothing. Simon frowned, wondering if she had only noticed or if all of Jericho knew.

“Is it broken?” she finally asked, voice low as she kept her eyes trained at the caved portion of the once-domed ceiling.

“It is managing.” He breathed through his nose, intent on deciphering the fogged over shards of the stained glass window. He could feel her scoff more than hear it as she leaned in closer to him. He returned the gesture slightly, still very aware that her leg would need more attention and was just getting by holding herself up.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

North exhaled sharply in a way that was more exasperated than angry. “To be fair, I am too.” Simon looked to his shoes, his nose twitching as he instinctively fought back a smile. It was a weak joke, even a dark one, but it was enough. She didn’t need to hear an apology, she already knew how he felt, she was concerned for him.

“You’ve changed.” The words slipped from him and he jolted instinctively, turning to look at her, to apologize.

She didn’t move, arms crossed over her chest, but her head bowed under the implication of his words. “I still hate the humans,” she confessed, her voice firm with that strength he didn’t have but lacking that fire that he had always distanced himself from. “I hate them now more than ever. I’m angry, Simon. Our people have suffered so much tonight.” Auburn met periwinkle, her eyes so steady that he felt locked in place. No longer sinking into the quicksand of his own mind. “I want more than anything to take the fight back to them.”

“But it won’t bring them back.”

Her gaze broke from him, trailing down until she was staring at his hand that held himself in a way that could have been seen as crossed arms, or as a means of self comfort. North turned away, the loose strands of reddish hair curtaining her off. “I know,” she said, voice soft and wavering, “And nothing I do will bring them back. I feel so… helpless.”

“Me too.”

“We need him, Simon. We need him here, with us, right now.” Her voice was conflicted, angry, desperate. “Where the hell is he when his people need him most?”

Simon looked at his hand, the hand Markus had grasped, pulling him from the freezing river, when he had asked for their location. The feelings that entered him were the same as his own, but harsher, biting. Like glass being pumped through his biocomponents. All he had seen was a beautiful house, ivy creeping up the brickwork and surrounded by trees slowly changing colour with the seasons.

“He’s finding hope.”

“Then he better bring back a whole hell of a lot,” she scoffed.

Simon pulled away from her slowly, giving North time to recentre her balance before he turned to her. He knew he looked grim, he knew in himself that he felt the same as her and he made no attempt to hide it. “We got this far. We did this. All of us. _We_ changed everything, for better or for worse. Regardless of the outcome, even if we fail… We aren’t powerless North.”

Full lips parted as though she wanted to say something. A flicker of that fire, embers really, smouldered behind her gaze as she searched him, as though hesitant to believe it was the same PL600 she had known for the last month. Simon felt himself smile only to be pulled into her. North was small, reaching just to his shoulder and arms wrapped around his chest. Even if she hadn’t been fisting the fabric of his coat, she wouldn’t have been able to fully embrace him. It felt strange returning the hug, she was always so volatile, her anger and energy overwhelming.

“No more hiding,” she spoke firmly, accentuating her words with a squeeze.

“Whatever happens.”

They both stepped back in unison, a faint hint of a melancholy smile pulling at the corner of her lips. “You’ve changed too.” He must have made a face, because the grin widened before she turned away, returning to their people. It wasn’t just Markus’ responsibility, this was all of their burdens. Markus was looking for hope in the future, the least they could do was keep hope in themselves.

And for the first time that night he felt Hope.

**Author's Note:**

> I told you all I don't hate North!
> 
> Honestly, Idk how this sort of play through will end because I haven't finished my gameplay of this exact tree yet. So when I do, I'll let you all know, lol.


End file.
